Builder draws fire from city aldermen, homes industry

Jason Markusoff, Calgary Herald04.23.2013

Cal Wenzel, CEO of Shane Homes, called some of his comments “unfortunate” after video of a speech was secretly taped and leaked to the media, but refused to back down from stated aims to see a more industry friendly city council elected.Calgary Herald/Files
/ Calgary Herald

Alderman Diane Colley-Urquhart called comments by Shane Homes CEO Cal Wenzel suggesting she wasn’t working hard enough on behalf the home-building industry because of the death of her husband, “the depths of desperation.”Calgary Herald/Files
/ Calgary Herald

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Two days after suburban home builder Cal Wenzel was shown dividing civic politicians into “our side” and the “dark side” in a secretly recorded meeting, council members he’s praised are lashing out at him, and major industry groups are distancing themselves from the controversy.

The Shane Homes CEO expressed no regrets for his comments Wednesday but emerged combative on two other fronts, saying city hall has a “social engineering program” to thwart suburban builders, and against the “cowardly” person who taped his speech to colleagues and leaked it to Global Calgary.

“Oh, we’ll find out. We are pretty close to finding out,” when asked if he knew the person’s identity.

Meanwhile the conservative think-tank he and colleagues have spent $1.1 million on is training only a small handful of candidates and under heavy scrutiny from others.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi has ramped up his call for investigations of the Manning Centre and some past donations by Wenzel, although both say they obey the rules and a provincial investigation would require someone to take the complaint to court.

Wenzel insists he would never try to “buy candidates,” but his taped remarks that Ald. Diane Colley-Urquhart wasn’t working hard enough for him last year after her husband died have her fuming.

“It was really reaching into the depths of desperation to say what was said,” Colley-Urquhart told reporters.

“You know, I’m not anyone’s mule and working for them. I work for the residents of Ward 13.”

Nenshi said he would return any donations he got from Wenzel, though he’s had none.

Ald. Shane Keating, who received $2,000 from Shane Homes last year, is thinking about returning it even though, he noted, the funds aren’t illegal.

“The second school of thought is: if you keep it, are you condoning bad behaviour?” Keating said. “When I get to the point of depositing money into the account, I will debate that issue.”

Wenzel and fellow builder Jay Westman of Jayman MasterBuilt are leading a push to get major developers and builders to steer campaign donations and logistical help to what they call “business friendly” aldermen and challengers.

But the Shane executive who has said that some politicians are being “looked after” insisted Wednesday he’d never expect favours or that he could buy control of candidates.

“We have supported certain candidates and they’ve even asked: what is that we’re looking for. And all I’ve said is all I would like is they use common sense on every decision they make. I don’t expect anything else,” Wenzel told reporters.

On Wednesday, Chris Kolozetti of development company United Developers said his company is also among the players who gave $100,000 to help the Manning Centre, alongside fellow contributors Westman and Wenzel.

“Manning Centre is an effective way of changing things,” Kolozetti said in an interview Wednesday.

The executive agreed with Wenzel’s stated hope of ensuring eight business-supportive aldermen get elected. However, the centre he’s donated to appears to be down to training three candidates who tried and lost in 2010, after two other candidates cut ties with the think-tank.

“Yeah, so what. It’s better than what we have now,” Kolozetti said, when told his six-digit contribution might only be supporting three candidates.

He said the relationship with city hall is the worst it’s been in his 30 years as a developer. Wenzel went a step further: “Now we’re the enemy.”

Local branches of the two main industry groups — the Canadian Home Builders Association and the Urban Development Institute — have issued statements to members noting their non-partisan stances. The UDI stated it has a “positive working relationship” with council and city administration.

“We encourage our members to continue to strive for great development in Calgary and to evaluate for themselves their involvement in the political process,” the UDI statement says. “We further encourage that any actions of our members be mindful of and maintain our industry reputation as a fair and honest knowledge-broker and key stakeholder in sustainable growth in Calgary.”

Colley-Urquhart said she was interested in trying out the Manning Centre’s programs, but said she left a recent meeting with the group convinced they’re running a right-wing slate she wouldn’t be a part of — an assertion the centre has repeatedly refuted.

Nenshi said the large donation to the Manning Centre, and claims on the Wenzel tape about possible in-kind donations over the $5,000 annual per-candidate limit, could prompt an investigation by Revenue Canada or a complaint to the province about excess donations.

“We have received so many calls from citizens, so I have no doubt that we will have citizens writing the minister of municipal affairs and solicitor general asking for that investigation,” Nenshi said.

“I may. I feel like I probably won’t have to.”

However, a complaint to a provincial minister has no standing. To get a possible election financing violation investigated, a concerned citizen must file a court application, Alberta Municipal Affairs spokesman Cam Traynor said.

In a statement Wednesday, Manning Centre director Chuck Strahl said: “We are fastidious about ensuring that all our work complies with the letter and spirit of every law that governs elections and charity.”

Wenzel dismissed questions about Shane company trucks that were in action helping a Ward 7 challenger with election signs in the 2010 race.

“I didn’t send trucks out. I have people that work with me, that have our trucks, and they volunteer to put signs up for Kevin Taylor. All we ever gave as a company from Shane Homes is $5,000. We have never gone over the limit, any way.”

City returning officer Barb Clifford said it’s up for the courts to decide, but what’s been described appears to have been an in-kind donation. “The truck isn’t a volunteer. It’s not a person. That’s a company,” she said.

“So I would think — and this is strictly thinking, because I don’t know — that the person who’s doing the driving may be a volunteer. But if you provide this money or property or real property or service for their benefit, then you include it.”

The mayor, whose comments about the city’s “sprawl subsidy” rankles Wenzel and others, said he doesn’t understand the outrage.

“There are guys who live in a world of enormous wealth and success,” he told CBC’s morning show. “This is a world of Ferraris and private jets. So what they’re mad about, despite the fact that their community is so successful, (their) business is so successful — your guess is as good as mine.”

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